I've been very much enjoying this web site. You make
some great arguments to many of the things I myself have been thinking
about these past weeks.

Concerning the Pro-life movement, in which I very much
support, in a peaceful and loving way.

I do not endorse the radical behavior that seems to get
time on the news, it shows no charity of heart.

Now, I've been reading a chapter in your book about
Christianity, and it sparked some thoughts in my mind, being of the
Catholic faith myself, this part about slavery....

...I've spent some time thinking about slavery from the
days of the old test. and it was absolutely sinful to treat a slave any
less than yourself. there were laws of the old that taught the people the
rules and regulations concerning the slaves. These slaves lived with their
masters with their entire families and grand parents etc... they were fed,
clothed and cared for. and if a slave wanted to stay with their master
even after the required 6 or so years , they were welcome as part of their
family.

Now, these days it is quite different how we deal with
slaves...for they do still exist...now-a-days you don't have to live with
your employer, instead, he pays you a salary. you can by your own house
and clothes and food with the money the employer provides you with for
your care, under the conditions that you do work for him in exchange.
there are still rules and regulations that exist with in our law to make
sure that the employees get treated fair and with respect, and if they are
mistreated in today's world it may not be referred to as sinful... but
they are protected by the law. some of us are even fortunate enough to be
able to own (or buy) a few of these slaves (I mean employees) ourselves.

Well, you see the point I'm trying to make, the slavery
thing hasn't disappeared, it just has taken a new name and a new sort of
shape. the slaves from the bible anyway, is much the same as employees are
today to their employer. Now slavery through the eyes of our history
lessons are much different than both.

Thanks so much for listening, and for your insightful
web site .

Jody Reid

Reply from Vasu Murti

Dear Jody,

Thank you for taking the time to visit my website and
read my writings.

You write that slavery hasn't really disappeared, but
has taken on a new name and a new shape.

This may be true with the plight of migrant farm
workers, illegal aliens, child labor and sweatshops in the Third World,
etc., but I don't think you can compare people working a regular 8 to 5
job with a salary, benefits, etc. to slavery.

In previous centuries, Native Americans were hunted for
"sport." Slavery was legal, there was child labor, sweatshops, women were
considered the property of their husbands, etc. Animals had no rights,
either, but there were voices calling for liberty and justice in this
regard.

John Stuart Mill wrote: "The reasons for legal
intervention in the case of children apply not less strongly to those
unfortunate slaves--the animals."

Abraham Lincoln said: "I am in favor of animal rights as
well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."

While it is known that the feminist movement initially
opposed abortion as "child murder" (Susan B. Anothony's words), it is
generally not known that many of the early American feminists, including
Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Amelia Jenkins
Bloomer, were connected with the 19th century animal welfare movement.
Together, they would meet with anti- slavery editor Horace Greeley to
toast "Women's Rights and Vegetarianism."

These early American feminists thus saw animal rights as
the logical next step in social progress after women's rights and civil
rights.

Pro-life feminist Serrin Foster, Executive Director of
Feminists For Life, often points out that conditions for women in the
Third World are similar to what they were like for American women in the
19th century.

Vegetarian author John Robbins writes with optimism in
"The Food Revolution," that: "The revolution sweeping our relationship to
our food and our world, I believe, is part of an historical imperative.
One hundred and fifty years ago, slavery was legal in the United States.
One hundred years ago, women could not vote in most states. Eighty years
ago, there were no laws in the United States against any form of child
abuse. Fifty years ago, we had no Civil Rights Act, no Clean Air or Clean
Water legislation, no Endangered Species Act.

Today, millions of people are refusing to buy clothes
and shoes made in sweatshops, and are seeking to live healthier and more
Earth-friendly lifestyles. In the last fifteen years alone, as people in
the United States have realized how cruelly veal calves are treated, veal
consumption has dropped 62 percent."

Again, thank you for taking the time to read my
writings. Your comments are most welcome.